Or things you would change?

I just turned 64, don't really feel like I am old yet but I have been thinking a lot about what I wish I would have done when younger. I have two opportunities I wish I had taken instead of the path I chose at the time.

First one, was while still in HS. I had the best Industrial arts teacher a fella could ever ask for. Mr. Yakos. My first and second year of HS I took his classes. Machine shop, welding, forging, and the like. He and I got along great and really became good friends. I spent many hrs. after school in his shop learning more than required. When my Jr. year came around I chose to take up auto body repair at the vocational school instead of machine work. He tried hard to talk me out of it. It didn't matter as my mind was made up. I worked in body shops from the time I was 17 till I was 32. At 32 I got sick, had 24 hr. cough that I had had for a few years. The Doc told me after looking at my lungs I was to either change what I was doing or I would never see 60. Needless to say I was done working at the body shop.

Second and maybe the worst decision I ever made was when I was 20. I had some good friends that were Il. state troopers. Two of them sponsored me and I took the tests to become a state trooper. I was to report to the academy in Jan. the following year. My FIL passed away unexpectedly in Dec. and things changed real fast. My then wife told me if I really wanted to move to Tn. she would then go. I left the next morning to find a job in Tn. Which I did right away and decided not to report to the academy. As I said, probably my worst ever decision.

A close third was not joining the military. A group of my friends and I were actually heading over to sign up and decided against it just before we got there.

What would any of ya'll change or do differently if given the chance?

Too many to list here... but I am trying hard not to dwell on the past because I am finally happy now.

The short list would be - listening to teachers and guidance counsellors who tried (successfully) to guide me towards academics and away from the trades and... I wish I would never have taken up cigarette smoking (I am quit since 2000)

My first wife!

I wish I had quit drinking 30 years sooner, or never started in the first place. Not that it ever got me into any real trouble but my regrets are the waste of time and money and the poor example I set for my kids. Life is far better without it.

I used to drink and party hard,womanize and eat a macdonalds every day.
But I turned myself around-I dont eat at Macdonalds anymore.

Good one!!! ROFLMAO

LOL @ Boco. Somehow my life turned out decent, some of the decisions I made and things I did make me thankful I am still alive.

My dad was the kind of guy that would tell me what he thought about something only once, then let me do what I wanted to do. If I had only listened to him instead of doing everything the hard way.

I should have spit in the face of one of my employers years ago. He called me into his office one day and was giving me heck. I turned my face from him and smirked, then he grabbed my chin and turned my face back towards him.
I should have spit right in his face for doing that. That’s one thing I regret.

I have made awful decisions in my life, had a terrible childhood and it took a very long time for me to straighten myself out from that. Now all I can do is go forward day for day doing the best I can to meet my own expectations. Good luck everyone.

to do everything I could persuade her not to go to north Carolina 30 years ago .......my heart has been broken ever since

I lived life hard when I was young. I knew deep in my heart I wouldn't be able to do it when I got old. I was right. Maybe that hard livin' had something to do with it LOL. Can't change the past so I never dwell on it. Went to work, paid the bills, raised the kids to be hard working and respectful. Trapped, fished and hunted my whole life so far. Mistakes ? Yes we all make them. Regrets? Thinking about them wouldn't solve anything

Should have gotten married earlier since then i didn't make any bad decisions

Should have devoted as much time and energy making money as I did fueling my passion for the outdoors. It cost me a bundle.

I have tons of regrets. Things I did and wish I hadn't and things I didn't and wish I had.

I am the same age as Boco and I didn't eat at McDonald's everyday, but lots of them, now I go to Wendy's just every now and then. Must be a product of our era!!

I spent a lot of money on women and johnny walker-and wasted the rest


fixed it

I often regret not finishing machine shop in high school. If I would've stuck with it all 4 years I would've left certified in welding and as a machinist. I loved it but the teacher and I didn't get a long.

When I was a butcher I had a couple customers who asked me a few times if they could loan me the money to start an independent butcher shop.

Better to regret what you did do then what you never tried, at least you learned something when you tried something new.